Nicholls must choose his words more carefully; Point of view The Chatham Daily News Sat May 5 2012 Page: A6 Section: Editorial/Opinion Byline: BRUCE CORCORAN Chatham-Kent Essex MPP Rick Nicholls is just the latest in a long line of Conservatives to lob misogynistic insults in an attempt to smear an adversary. Does that make it right? Should we just cluck our tongues and look away? No. This week in the provincial Legislature, Nicholls called Lisa Kirbie, the director of government and regulatory affairs at the embattled Ornge, the "squeeze" of Liberal insider Warren Kinsella. He later apologized, but the damage was done. Federally, John Crosbie was out of line when he told Sheila Copps to "just quiet down, baby" in Parliament in 1985. He stepped in it again in 1990 when he recited song lyrics, "Pass the tequila, Sheila, lay down and love me again," at a fundraising dinner. Ditto for William Kempling in 1991, when he called Copps a "slut." Those are just a handful of examples. The Conservatives don't have the market cornered on hurling insults, however. For instance, in 2005, Liberal cabinet minister Reg Alcock responded to a question about offering Tory MP Inky Mark an ambassador posting: "Frankly, if I was going to recruit somebody, I'd go further up the gene pool." And then there's the famous "Fuddle duddle" comment from iconic Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1971 to a Tory MP John Lundrigan. That's what Trudeau claimed he said, but others believe his terminology instead involved the F-bomb. And now Nicholls used "squeeze." He's not the first and won't be the last to speak inappropriately as an elected official. And to bring that fact up as a defence is laughable. There is no case law in Legislature. Just because someone may have uttered worse comments in the past does not mean it's excusable to call a woman someone's squeeze. In reality, Nicholls is no different than someone who posts inappropriate comments on media websites. Rick, I will tell you what I have said repeatedly to our online commenting community: Stick to the facts. Debate the issues. Don't make it personal. That's the high road; the route we expect our elected representative to take on our behalf. After all, Nicholls is the guy Chatham-Kent Essex voted to Queen's Park as our spokesman. We put him there. Whether he's reading from cue cards provided by his superiors in the party, or trying to be cute on his own, it looks bad on the citizens of his riding to utter such cheap insults. We don't treat women that way and shouldn't put up with such actions by our MPP Shape up, Rick. Or we will ship you out come 2015, or sooner, given the fact we have a minority government. bruce.corcoran@sunmedia.ca Š 2012 Osprey Media Group Inc. All rights reserved.
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